


Get Cool

by johnnyscoffe



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Awkward Mark Lee (NCT), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Suh Youngho | Johnny Are Siblings, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is a Little Shit, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT) is Whipped, Mark Lee (NCT)-centric, Mention of past relationships, Mentioned Kim Jungwoo (NCT), Mentioned Lee Taeyong, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Mark Lee (NCT), Pining, Shy Mark Lee (NCT), Suh Youngho | Johnny-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:33:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22481857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnnyscoffe/pseuds/johnnyscoffe
Summary: Mark's crush on his best friends older brother has gone from cute to downright embarrassing. When Johnny comes home for Christmas Mark is reminded of why he likes him so much and of how unatainable he is. But at eighteen Mark is now an official adult and Johnny's single status means he can finally try and at least get a kiss from his crush before he has to let him go.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 32
Kudos: 302
Collections: Johnny Fic Fest: Round One





	Get Cool

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #JS197 of the Johnny Fic Fest.

It was the first year of middle school that Mark learnt who Johnny was. The then eleven year old had been watching as boys in the year above opened up his bag, alongside his best friend Dongkyuck’s, and tipped the contents out onto the dew covered grass for everyone going into the school building to see. In the moment, Mark was starting to regret befriending the boy - he was a troublemaker who couldn’t keep his sass to himself, it was how they had ended up in their current situation - but then _he_ appeared. Tall, broad, and older, facial expression set in a hard frown. 

He had been _so cool_ , as he loomed over the bullies, pulling them away from the now wet notebooks by the straps of their bags. He scolded the boys calmly, a no nonsense warning of not telling a teacher, but informing their _parents_ about what they had been doing. Mark couldn’t think of a worse punishment and ever the sympathetic person he was, almost felt sorry for them as their mouths hung open in surprise and stuttered out apologies that they didn’t really mean but made onlookers giggle and whisper. Now that Mark felt less embarrassed about the situation and could look at his surroundings, he noticed that no one was laughing at himself or Donghyuck. They were laughing at the other boys instead. Johnny had let them go then, rolling his eyes as they tripped over each other to get away from him. Mark spent the rest of the day gushing over the older boy.

“Who _is_ he?” He gasped as students dispersed into the school building after the spectacle was over. 

“Who? Johnny?” Donghyuck replied, head tilted up to look at Mark from where he had knelt to pick up their belongings. Johnny hadn’t stayed for that part. “Hey, dude, help me would you? I don’t want to be late.” 

Mark shook himself out of his daydream and joined his friend, jeans quickly soaking through from the wet grass. His mum would be angry if grass stains were left behind on the clothing. “His name’s Johnny?” Mark spoke almost dreamily, smiling as he gathered his pens, blades of grass following them, and dropped them into the bottom of his bag. Donghyuck scrunched his face at the site. 

“Yes, his name is Johnny. What’s up with you?” 

“He’s so cool, Hyuck, don’t you think?” 

Donghyuck zipped his bag back up and slipped it over one shoulder before standing. “He spends most of his time reading in his bedroom, that’s not very cool if you ask me.” He wiped his jeans as best he could, frowning at the wet patches on his knees. “He’s annoying.” 

“How would you know that?” Mark asked as they climbed the steps into the school building.

“Mark,” Donghyuck groaned, “I know because he’s my _brother._ Why do you think he did something to begin with?”

Mark stopped walking in the middle of the corridor and in a flurry was in front of Donghyuck, hands on his shoulders and staring at him in awe. “ _That’s_ your brother? Why didn’t you introduce us sooner?” 

Donghyuck shoved Mark’s hands away and kept walking to their home room, the older hurriedly catching up to pester him with more questions. 

“He saved us, Hyuck! If he hadn't stopped them who knows what would have happened?” 

“He didn’t save anything dude, our stuff is still ruined. All he did was make them go away.” 

Mark didn’t seem to hear him. He was away again, the image of Johnny standing tall and broad over them still playing in his head. “I bet he has a super pretty girlfriend.” Mark sighed. 

At this, Donghyuck laughed loudly, apologising to their teacher as they were shushed while entering the class room. “Johnny doesn’t have a girlfriend.” He informed his friend.

Mark’s eyes lit up with hope. “Seriously? Why not?” His legs were bouncing under his desk, fingers tapping as he anticipated his friends answer. 

“Because he has a boyfriend.” 

Mark’s face fell, his anxious twitching pausing from the disappointment. That wasn’t the answer he had wanted to hear. “He does?” 

“Jaehyun or something, I don’t know. I don’t pay much attention when he talks about boys.” 

“Jaehyun?” Mark replied, frowning as he turned his attention to the front of the room.

*******

“So when can I come over?” They were at lunch, sitting with a couple of their other friends, Jeno, Jaemin and Renjun. 

“How about never?” Donghyuck retorted, not looking up from his tray. 

Mark whined, reaching over to grab at Donghyuck’s hands. “Come on! Please? I just want to see him again.” 

“Why is Mark pouting?” Renjun asked slowly, raising an eyebrow at his friend’s strange behaviour. 

Donghyuck pried Mark’s hands away and picked up more rice with his spoon. “He wants to see Johnny.” 

“Who’s Johnny?” Jeno asked around a mouthful of food.

“Your brother?” Jaemin asked. 

Donghyuck nodded. “Mark has a crush on him or something.”

“I do not!” Mark defended in outrage. “I just think he’s really cool. He saved us this morning.” Mark announced proudly. 

“Do you have to sound proud of that?” Donghyuck groaned. “We had our bags taken from us and our stuff thrown everywhere, it’s embarrassing and I wish you wouldn’t mention it.” 

Renjun ignored Donghyuck’s complaints. “So you want to go to Hyuck’s house to stalk his brother?” 

“It’s not stalking-”

“It _sounds_ like stalking.” 

Mark flicked some rice that had fallen off his tray and onto the table at Jeno, who laughed in response as it missed its target.

“Whatever, I just want to thank him, that’s all.” 

“I’d like to see you try to say two words to him.” Donghyuck teased. 

“Invite me over and watch!” Mark was practically pouting now. 

“Fine,” Donghyuck sighed as if the conversation was taking all of his energy. “You can come over after school, if you really must.” 

Mark grinned and if he were more physically affectionate he would have hugged his friend. “Thank you!” 

*******

“This is Mark.” Donghyuck introduced Mark to his mother casually when he arrived home, an eager best friend practically stepping on his heels to get inside the house. 

“I’ve heard lots about you!” She replied, smile bright and friendly. “It’s nice to meet you, Mark. Are you staying for dinner?” 

Mark looked over to Donghyuck hopefully, clasping his hands together and pouting once again. Donghyuck sighed heavily, “Yeah, if that’s alright.”

“Of course! The more the merrier. I believe Jaehyun will be staying too.”

Mark frowned at the mention of _him_. Donghyuck noticed his friends change in expression and laughed. “We’ll be in my room.” He called out to his mother as she disappeared back into the living room.

“Which one is Johnny’s?” Mark asked after they climbed the stairs. “I bet his room is really cool, too.” 

“His is that one.” Donghyuck pointed to the room opposite what was apparently his own, as he opened the door and threw his bag onto the floor. “Don’t get your hopes up,” he added as Mark chose to stare at the other door instead of stepping into the room, “they close the door. You won’t get to spend the whole time looking at him.” 

Mark dropped his bag by Donghyuck. “So… when will he be home?” 

Donghyuck shrugged, his back turned away from Mark. He was turning his console on. “Probably soon.” 

Mark nodded, tearing his gaze away from the hallway and taking a look around his friend’s room. It wasn’t dissimilar to his own, fairly blank walls with a couple posters, messy floor, unmade bed. There was a pile of games in front of a television. Mark wondered if Johnny’s room was the same. It was probably more mature, he was _fourteen_ after all.

“Hey, who’s this?” Someone asked from the doorway as they were half way through their first race.

“This is Mark, he annoyed me into letting him come over.” Donghyuck replied, not looking up.

“Dude!” Mark cried in embarrassment, face flushing quickly and brightly. 

“You were with Hyuck this morning, right?” 

It took Mark a moment to realise that Johnny’s question was aimed towards him.

“Um, y-yes I was.” Mark replied. “Thank you… by the way. For… that.” 

Johnny smiled, so kind and gentle looking, “No need. I was protecting my baby brother.” 

“I’m not a baby!” Donghyuck defended himself. “Go away, we’re busy.” 

Johnny chuckled. “You’ll always be a baby to me, Hyuck.”

A baby? Johnny saw his younger brother as a baby. That meant he probably saw Mark as a baby too. Mark frowned at that thought. Mark didn’t want to look at Johnny anymore, suddenly embarrassed. Embarrassed about being a baby who needed saving, in Johnny’s eyes. 

“See you later, Mark.” Johnny gave him another big smile before turning around and pulling Jaehyun along into his room. From his brief glimpse, Mark saw floor to ceiling shelves full of books and stuffed animals and other things he couldn’t make out in time. Johnny was so _cool_. 

“You can go join them in whatever they’re doing if I'm boring.” Donghyuck teased, smacking Mark’s shoulder to wake him up from his day dreaming. 

“I don’t want to join them.” Mark huffed, suddenly grumpy. 

*******

Mark didn’t see Johnny often after the elder graduated middle school, and when he started high school himself, he was sure that his infatuation with the older boy would leave. He was a teenager now! He was the age Johnny was when they met, he couldn’t help but think. 

“Johnny’s our babysitter tonight, so no parents.” Donghyuck informed his friends, which included the same group from middle school, but with two new additions of Jisung and Chenle. 

“Why do we need a babysitter?” Renjun questioned. 

“Because my parents say so.” Donghyuck shrugged. “He’ll be cool though, Doyoung will probably be invited.” 

“Who’s Doyoung?” Mark tried to come across casual, but his friends all knew about his childhood crush and that it hadn’t waned in the slightest in four years.

“His boyfriend, they’ve only been together a couple weeks. He brought him home last weekend to tell our parents.”

Jaemin raised an eyebrow, “I thought he was with Jaehyun?” 

Donghyuck scoffed, “They broke up in their freshman year of high school.”

“But they’re always together?” Mark _really_ wasn’t good at faking interest. 

“Yeah, because they’re _friends_.” 

The conversation was dropped after that, although the new information was whirling around Mark’s head. 

At Donghyuck’s that evening, they had all made themselves comfortable in the living room as Johnny ordered pizza for them, scrolling around Netflix for something to start the evening with. 

“We’re not watching Shrek again.” Jaemin insisted, swiping the controller from Chenle’s hands. 

“Why not-” As the younger replied he was interrupted by the doorbell. 

“I’ll get it.” Mark volunteered, anything to get away from the bickering.

When he opened the door, a taller boy smiled down at him, thin framed glasses perched on his nose.

“Um… hello?” 

The boy smiled, “I’m here for Johnny. I assume he’s in?”

“He’s busy.” Mark replied shortly. He didn’t like the look of the pretty boy in front of him. He was too… _pretty_.

Johnny came through then, smile taking over his face, “You’re here! Sorry, I was on the phone.” He looked between Mark and the boy in the doorframe. “You can let him in, Markie.” 

Mark frowned at the nickname, the frown deepening when the other boy laughed. “I don’t know who he is. You shouldn’t invite strangers in.” 

“He’s not a stranger. This is Doyoung, my boyfriend.” 

The pretty boy looked down shyly at the title. “You don’t need to introduce me like that.” He complained, although he didn’t sound like he was scolding him. 

“Come on, the kids are in the living room.” 

Doyoung had the audacity to smile at Mark as Johnny took his hand to guide him into the house, ruffling Mark’s hair as he passed him, “Nice to meet you, Mark.” 

Mark’s frown turned into a pout as he looked down towards their joined hands. Maybe his crush hadn’t _quite_ disappeared yet, despite what he told himself.

Later, Mark wormed his way into sitting beside Johnny on the couch, Doyoung on his other side. The fourteen year old hoped that he wasn’t going to have to discuss the movie after it had finished, because most of his attention was on the couple beside him. This wasn’t how he remembered Johnny being with Jaehyun… they were far more shy about showing affection around other people. They were _younger_ , Mark’s brain supplied. Johnny isn’t a young teenager anymore, he’s _eighteen_ , an _adult_. 

He watched, scrutinising, as Johnny leant over to press a kiss to Doyoung’s forehead, a smile on both their faces as he did so. Doyoung pushed him away gently when he tried to give him another kiss, this time on the cheek. Mark rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out in disgust, for his own sake, because no one else was watching the gross scene that was going on beside them. They looked so in _love_ , and it made Mark mad.

Mark woke up to yelling from the television, quickly realising that he had fallen asleep at some point. His head, he noticed, was pressed against something firm - a shoulder? Blinking to adjust to the darker room, Mark shuffled away from whoever he had used as a pillow, apologising quietly, voice raspy from his brief nap.

“I think it’s time you all went to bed, actually.” Johnny chuckled, once again ruffling Mark’s hair with a grin on his face. It was Johnny’s shoulder, apparently. That was embarrassing. 

“But we still have another movie to watch!” Donghyuck complained, pouting at his older brother. 

Johnny sighed, “Last one.” 

*******

Mark dragged himself to Donghyuck’s room, eyes far too heavy for his liking. His other friend’s didn’t seem to feel the late hour. 

“Your crush has gone from cute to embarassing.” Jaemin laughed. “I saw the glare you were giving Doyoung the entire evening.” 

“I don’t have a crush on Johnny.” Mark mumbled sleepily in reply, all but face planting into his spot on the floor.

“Johnny’s graduating soon, he’ll forget about him.” Donghyuck sighed. 

And Donghyuck was right, for three years. At least, Mark didn’t mention his still present crush on his best friends older brother. He kept the thoughts to himself, and if Donghyuck caught him looking at Johnny’s closed bedroom door for too long, he also kept that to himself. 

“Johnny’s coming home tomorrow.” Donghyuck mentioned casually as he and Mark walked to their next class. 

“Oh,” Mark nodded to himself, “that’s… cool.” 

“That’s it?”

Mark shrugged, “What?” 

The younger swung his bag over the back of his desk chair, sighing. “I know you still like him.” He watched his friend’s cheeks turn rosey. “I’m telling you this because he’s single, he’s going to be in town, and you’re eighteen now.”

“He’s single?” 

“Yeah, and so are you. Unless you still like-”

“No, I don’t. I never really liked him that much.” 

“You said that about Taeyong. Jungwoo too.”

Mark nodded solemnly. “I liked them, they just weren’t…”

“They weren’t Johnny.” Donghyuck finished for him. “That’s why I’m letting you know that he will be back for Christmas. Do with that information what you will.” 

As their class began, Mark looked to the front of the room, but his focus wasn’t on his teacher. Maybe, and he couldn’t believe he was actually thinking this, Donghyuck was right. This was a chance, right? He was eighteen, there was no way Johnny could still see him as his baby brothers friend. This was his chance to get over Johnny once and for all and he was going to take it.

*******

“You can stop missing me!” Johnny called as he opened the front door, followed by his father who had picked him up from the bus station. 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, getting up from the couch to greet his brother. “Mark’s here.” 

“Hi!” Johnny waved towards Mark, smile cheerful. “Are you staying for dinner?” 

“Um, yes-yes I’m stay- I’m having-” Mark stuttered, not expecting to feel quite so shy seeing Johnny again. 

“He’s here for the night.” Donghyuck interjected. 

“Cool. It’s nice to see you again.” 

As Johnny disappeared up the stairs Mark punched Donghyuck’s shoulder. “I’m not staying the night.” 

Donghyuck shrugged, “You are now. This is your chance to get over your crush.” 

Mark frowned, “Excuse me?” 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Like I said at school, he’s single now. You’re eighteen. Kiss him and get over your crush - you have terrible taste, by the way, have I told you that?” 

Mark shoved Donghyuck, “Yes, you have. Many times.” 

They sat in silence for a while after that, both on their phones. 

“Do you really think he’d kiss me back, though?” 

Donghyuck groaned. “I _really_ don’t want to think about you and my brother kissing. But… maybe. He calls you cute all the time, that has to mean something.” 

“Okay.” 

“Okay?” 

“I’ll kiss him, tonight. I’ll get it out of my system and then I can go on and have crushes on people my own age.” 

“As long as all you do is kiss.” 

That comment earned Donghyuck a cushion to the back of the head, mostly to cover up Mark’s blushing cheeks. 

*******

After they had eaten Johnny excused himself to unpack, leaving Donghyuck and Mark to be sent off to play video games. Sometimes Mark wondered if Donghyuck only invited him over to avoid chores.

“You should do it now, before he comes back downstairs.” 

Mark turned his attention away from Mario Kart in surprise, allowing Donghyuck to push him off the track and into the wall of the course. The dirty trick went unnoticed. 

" _N_ _ow_?” 

Donghyuck shrugged. “Why not now?” 

“I was thinking more sneaking into his room at 2am, catch him while he’s drowsy, get it over and done with while maintaining consent with minimal cost.” 

“Just do it now, go.” Donghyuck, rather hastily in Mark’s opinion, pushed his friend from the couch with his feet, eyes still focused on the television despite the fact that Mark’s controller wasn’t even in his hands anymore. 

Mark scrambled ungracefully from the carpet. “Fine, but when the evening is awkward, it’s on you.” 

“Boys?” Donghyuck’s mother called as Mark was leaving the room. “What was that noise?” 

“I pushed Mark off the couch.” Donghyuck replied rather honestly. 

Surprised, his mother looked between the two. “And why did you do that?”

“He was trying to make me lose the game.” 

His mother rolled her eyes. “Okay, well, please don’t kick your friends just because you’re losing a game.” She turned to Mark. “Kick him back if he does it again.” 

Mark grinned at Donghyuck’s mother as the younger yelled out a “hey!” in response. 

Mark made his way upstairs once they were left alone again and once in front of Johnny’s door he shuffled his feet, nervous. This was his childhood crush that he was about to kiss. He contemplated going back downstairs and telling Donghyuck that he had done it, but he knew his best friend would see through his lies. 

Taking in a deep breath, Mark knocked on Johnny’s bedroom door quietly, heart pounding. A soft “come in!” was called from inside, and Mark pushed the already ajar door with a trembling hand. 

“Hey,” Johnny said, greeting Mark with a smile, “did Donghyuck send you for something.” 

“Uh…” What was he _thinking_ ? What was he _doing_? Why was he- “kind of.” 

“Kind of?” Could he stop smiling like that, please?

Mark rocked on his feet as he stood in the doorway. “Well, he… I want to do something and he told me to do it now. So that’s what I’m doing. Doing it… now.” 

“Okay? Was what you wanted to do standing in my room?” 

Mark clasped his hands together nervously. “No…”

Johnny chuckled, dropping his phone to his bed to give Mark his full attention. “I can’t read minds so it would be beneficial to both of us if you told me what it is you want to do in my room.” 

Oh were there things Mark wanted to do in Johnny’s room. He paused that train of thought before it could go anywhere. Now was not the time.

Mark looked up from his feet to find Johnny now standing and suddenly he couldn’t think of anything else but getting the kiss over and done with. Better to do it quickly than to let the anticipation build up. So he did. Mark closed the gap between them, raised his hands to rest on Johnny’s shoulders, one hand holding the back of his head before stopping briefly to gauge Johnny’s reaction. The elder appeared surprised, but wasn’t looking like he wanted to push Mark away either, so he went up onto his toes (had Johnny always been so tall compared to him?) and kissed him, hesitantly but with purpose. One of Johnny’s hands found its way to the back of Mark’s neck, holding him gently. Mark put more pressure into the kiss when Johnny didn’t pull away, confidence growing, only to be halted as Johnny broke the kiss.

“Mark, stop.” 

Mark tried to take a step back to give Johnny space, but a hand on his waist kept him where he was. 

“I’m sorry.” Mark was tearing up, he knew he was but he couldn’t stop it from happening. He was so _dumb_. He was going to kill Donghyuck, how could this possibly have been a good idea?

“I just need a moment.” Johnny breathed, continuing to keep Mark close.

Mark wasn’t listening. “Shit, I’m sorry I just-” He cut himself off. What could he say to explain himself? What excuse could he possibly have to be doing this? This wasn’t even meant to upset him, he went into this with the expectation of being rejected so why did actually being rejected hurt so much?

“You had a crush on me.” 

Mark looked up in surprise. “Huh?” 

Johnny smiled sadly, taking Mark by the elbow and sitting him down next to him on his bed. “You liked me when you were younger?” He was looking at Mark so intensely that it was intimidating. 

Mark shook his head yes, embarrassed. 

Johnny nodded. “Is that why you just kissed me?” 

Mark nodded yes again. He wanted to cry. “I liked you a lot.” He was talking in a whisper, worried that talking any louder would make Johnny erupt. He had never heard Johnny yell, not even to the boys he had saved him from back in middle school. 

Johnny didn’t yell. Instead, a hand was placed on his knee, a reassuring pressure. “Can I ask when it started?” 

Why was he being so kind? Why wasn’t he angry?

Mark shrugged. “Fourth grade, maybe.” Mark wasn’t able to keep up the eye contact Johnny was holding as he spoke.

Johnny hummed. “Donghyuck has said before that you’ve had boyfriends.” Mark nodded. “So your crush has gone?” Mark shrugged. Johnny sighed softly. “Did you think kissing me would make it go away?” 

“Yes.” 

“Mark…” The hand on Mark’s knee wasn’t touching him anymore. It was hovering, as if Johnny didn’t know if he wanted to move it someplace else or remove it completely. “You’re friends with my little brother. I can’t-”

“Okay.” Mark stood up quickly. He had, had enough embarrassment for one day - for a whole _year_. “I get it, it’s okay.” 

“Mark-”

“I just wanted to get it out of my system anyway.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Johnny looked sad. Mark would almost think he was conflicted about the situation if it wasn’t for the fact that he had rejected him so easily. “I mean, I liked you so much for so long and seeing you again has just made it all come back so I thought kissing you would stop it. You know, do the thing that I desire and then move on.” 

Johnny nodded slowly in understanding. “Okay.” 

“I’m sorry. I won’t be weird, I promise. This doesn’t have to be awkward.”

“You’re always awkward.” Johnny scoffed. 

“Right…”

With that, Mark turned around and headed back downstairs, leaving Johnny alone in his room. Donghyuck wordlessly gave him back the controller and they continued on with their game as if nothing had happened. Mark’s brain hadn’t seemed to pick up on that, however. It was going a mile a minute trying to process what had just happened. 

He had just kissed Johnny. He had kissed Johnny. He kissed _Johnny_.

Despite the nerves and the fact that his crush most certainly had not magically disappeared like he had imagined happening, Mark felt… good. He felt giddy. He could move on from here. 

Or he thought that he could.

He found himself in target with the two siblings a few days later and the awkwardness was killing him. Johnny seemed to be doing everything in his power to not look in Mark’s direction. Every question about what they were shopping for was directed towards Donghyuck and Mark’s replies were ignored.

“I’ll handcuff you together if you don’t stop being awkward.” Donghyuck threatened.

Mark coughed in surprise and Johnny thumped the back of his younger brother’s head. “Don’t talk like that to your elders, kid.”

Despite the name being aimed towards his friend, Mark felt a sting hearing it. 

“It’s weird, you’re never this quiet. Are you sulking because mum asked you to drive us?” 

Johnny sighed, “I am not sulking.” 

“Then why are you ignoring Mark?”

“Donghyuck do you think before you say things?”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“I’m not avoiding anything.” 

“Jeno can’t make it for a movie tonight, by the way.”

Mark looked up from the floor. “Okay. I can just be dropped off at home.”

“But we have to watch it together!”

“Why?” Johnny asked as he picked up a four pack of beer. 

“Because we saw the first two together! It wouldn’t be right to not watch the third one together too. That includes you, Johnny.” 

“He’s right.” Mark added quietly. 

Johnny looked over in Mark’s direction and sighed. “Okay. But neither of you are getting any beer.” 

“Just one-”

“No, Hyuck.” 

Donghyuck stuck his tongue out at his brother’s back and Mark held back a snort. The awkwardness seemed to be fading. 

The awkwardness was _not_ fading. 

Donghyuck had decided to spread himself out on one of the two couches in their living room, leaving Johnny and Mark to squeeze onto the couch that barely fit two people. From the smirk Donghyuck sent him, Mark was confident that this was deliberate.

When Johnny wasn’t in the room Mark turned to his friend. “Stop doing this!” 

Donghyuck shrugged innocently. “Doing what?”

“Forcing Johnny and I into awkward situations.” 

“I just want you to kiss and make up. Hopefully literally.” 

Mark groaned. “You _know_ he rejected me.” 

“Wasn’t that the point?” 

“Well, yeah, but…” Mark sighed. “I didn’t think it would make him so uncomfortable. Or that I’d still have a crush on him after.” 

“You should have considered all of that.” 

Mark threw a cushion at Donghyuck. “You encouraged me!” 

Donghyuck continued eating the candy in his hands, seemingly unbothered by Mark’s complaints. “I thought he’d make you his boyfriend after.” 

“Why would you think-”

“Okay I’m ready.” Johnny unknowingly cut Mark off, throwing himself onto the couch beside him, oblivious to the two boys conversation. 

They watched the movie in silence, Johnny’s eyes never leaving the screen in front of them and Mark’s own never leaving the older boy’s profile.

As the ending credits started rolling Donghyuck bounced up from his seat. “I’ll be back in a second.” 

“Hyuck don’t you dare-”

Worst best friend ever, Mark decided. 

“What’s he up to?” 

Mark sighed, “The usual.”

Johnny scoffed. 

Mark played with his fingers, frowning to himself. “I’m sorry.” 

“What for?” 

“For…” Mark shrugged, “making it awkward between us. I can’t even blame Hyuck, I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”

“Yeah, you are.” Johnny moved to face Mark, a hesitant hand reaching out to the younger’s shoulder but not touching. “You’re old enough to know what you want.” 

Mark stayed quiet, unsure of where Johnny was going with this. 

“You kissed me because you knew you wanted to.” 

Now he really was confused. “I know. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“But I want to.” Johnny looked up from his hovering hand.

Mark couldn’t help it. This was giving him hope. “I’m eighteen.” 

“You’re-” Johnny cut himself off. “Yeah, you’re eighteen. But that shouldn’t mean I can just…” He was pulling away again.

“You can kiss me. If you want.” 

“Mark…”

“Please.” Mark shuffled towards Johnny on the couch they shared. His confidence was wavering and he hoped it wasn’t obvious.

Johnny looked reluctant, but not completely against what Mark was asking.

“Please, Johnny.” What was he doing? This wasn’t a part of the plan! He was supposed to kiss him once and move on. Mark was geering up to apologise, _again_ , but was interrupted by Johnny kissing him. 

Johnny was kissing him. He was cradling Mark’s face between both of his hands, pressed as close as their position allowed to the younger. He pulled away slowly.

“What am I doing?” 

Mark smiled, a big cheesy smile that he couldn’t stop.

“Letting yourself have what you want.” He answered rather bravely. Johnny rolled his eyes.

“You really aren’t the little kid that used to stay for dinner anymore.”

Mark grinned, feeling proud. “I told you.” 

Johnny pressed another kiss to Mark’s lips.

“I’m happy for you both but Jeno is here.” Donghyuck called from the doorway, breaking the two apart. 

Mark was cursing his friend in his head as Johnny laughed. “I thought you couldn’t make it?”

Jeno frowned. “Why? I thought I was supposed to be here around seven?”

A quick glance at the clock told Mark that it was seven fifteen. 

“Donghyuck said you cancelled.” 

Jeno turned to Donghyuck, “Why did you say that?” 

Donghyuck laughed awkwardly. “Well you’re here now!” 

“Donghyuck!” Mark wasn’t angry at his best friend, not really. How could he be when Johnny was laughing beside him, his arm wrapped around his waist and a comforting hand holding his own, resting on the older’s thigh.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/isntdoyoung)
> 
> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/jaehyuncoffe)


End file.
